Bondholders to be handed up to 92% of retailer in return for cutting £1.35bn debt to £500mNew Look may have to put itself up for sale as part of rescue refinanceThe struggling clothing retailer New Look may be forced to put itself up for sale in order to complete a rescue refinance. New Look, which has 500 stores, will hand bondholders up to 92% of the company in return for reducing its £1.35bn debt pile to about £500m. In the first phase of the financial restructure, bondholders this week approved an £80m short-term injection of cash, which the company will begin to have access to next week. Another ratings agency, S&P, also downgraded New Look’s debt on Thursday before the restructuring announcement, saying the retailer would face a liquidity crisis if the move were not approved next week. Brait, a private equity company whose biggest shareholder is the South African tycoon Christo Wiese, paid £780m for a majority stake in New Look in 2015.

Source: The Guardian January 24, 2019 18:02 UTC